My place is on the market and I’m getting a fair bit of interest from furloughed (esp. hospitality-industry) people. I have plenty of sympathy for their situation, but i view the risk of redundancies as pretty high in the coming months (once furlough is finished). What are you others doing? Can anything be done to mitigate the risk of redundancy and the tenant then not paying rent?
I start to think I’m better off renting to students (with guarantors) for the next year or so!
You can always ask for a guarantor for the above people.
It’s up to you who you allow to rent to, and the conditions that you put on accepting them.
2 Likes
you can ask for a gurrantor for any tenant
5 months ago my tenants suddenly gave notice and I went round to chat and found them quite upset as he had an unexpected tax bill and was therefore looking for a cheaper property , not being able to pay the rent to me. I took a gamble and let them off a months rent until they sorted stuff out, and took the next payment a bit late, and it’s paid off for all of us, as now during lockdown, both have managed to work and pay the rent, and we have a good relationship, (they are also neighbours).
I accepted them as tenants without financial checks, as they are self employed, but we’re willing to show me a years bank statements.
Sometimes it pays off if you can help people out, and give people the benefit of the doubt.
2 Likes
Sometimes it pays off, but more often than not it doesn’t! I think a lot depends on whether they are already tenants or not. My current tenants work in hospitality and are furloughed. We have a good relationship and, when they were due to leave in May, i agreed to reduce the rent so they could stay a few more months. I’ve had no problems whatsoever with them. However, would i rent to them in current circumstances (if i didn’t know them). Most probably not (without guarantors). The unfortunate reality is there is high risk of redundancies in the sector as furlough will not last forever. Landlords have almost no protection right now. If a tenant stops paying rent, we can’t even evict them!
2 Likes